


Save me from myself

by Akee_chan



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bottom Severus Snape, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Cute Severus Snape, Depression, Domestic Violence, Good Severus Snape, Hurt Severus Snape, Lily Evans Potter & Severus Snape Friendship, M/M, Severus Snape Needs a Hug, Suicidal Thoughts, Young Severus Snape
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:07:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 6,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25948579
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akee_chan/pseuds/Akee_chan
Summary: Seveus Snape has been suffering his father's abuse since a very young age and they have only gotten worse. In the beginning of his third year after a hellish summer he finally gets back to Hogwarts only to have his darker secret reveled. Will he let himself be helped? What are the marauders going to do with the recently found knowledge of his former enemy's suffering?
Relationships: James Potter/Severus Snape, Lily Evans Potter & Severus Snape, Remus Lupin/Severus Snape, Sirius Black/Severus Snape
Comments: 289
Kudos: 637





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks again for all the support and help and I hope you enjoy this story, there might be a bit ooc on the characters but I will try to keep it to the minimum. Please feel free to make suggestions for me to improve my writing and feedback on the story.

It was night and in a small and rather neglected house you could hear some screams and insults coming from a drunken man who was lying in front of the television demanding another drink. At the time, he was relatively calm after venting his anger and frustration on his only son.

Severus was lying on the cold floor of his room, he felt the tears running down his cheeks and he didn't even have the energy to stop them, his body hurt enormously after the most recent beating of his father.

He had spent all summer protecting his mother from his father's fists to give her a break but in return he felt his body at the limit. He didn't understand why they were still with him or how his mother could love a monster as much as she loved his father who did nothing more than hurt them, she did anything to protect him and Severus couldn't do more than taking care of her despite the damage.

He knew he had open wounds and more than one broken bone but he couldn't do much without being at Hogwarts as the use of magic and potions at home was practically null. His mother didn't risk upsetting his father and any mention of the magic subject made him go crazy. So the best he could hope for were some soothing teas and old bandages on deeper wounds to decrease the bleeding.

He felt in so much pain that it was difficult to think of something different and at times he wanted to stop feeling at all completely but he quickly pushed those dark thoughts away from his mind, he closed his eyes in fear, he knew he should sleep and let his body rest at least a little but he was afraid of doing it and not being able to wake up again.

He couldn't breathe well without his entire body hurting and he had a familiar metallic taste flooding his mouth and throat, he also knew that he had lost a considerable amount of blood and he didn't had a very good health to begin with, but he had to, he had to keep going. And get over it as always, he couldn't leave Lily and her mother alone. He had to hold out until the next day and his mother would help him get to the park where Lily and her parents will pick him up.

His body began to feel heavy and his eyes closing on their own from the accumulated fatigue, he prayed that the next day would be calm enough to be able to get to Hogwarts and heal his wounds to the best of his ability.


	2. Chapter 2

Severus opened his eyes when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, with some difficulty he could see that it was his mother who was in front of him. Carefully she helped him up and handed him his Hogwarts uniform.

  
Severus felt his body numb from the cold of the ground but little by little the pain began to flood him again, he let out a small moan of pain as he tried to remove his clothes and his mother instantly looked at him fearfully.

  
"Do you want to wake him up? If you do, you won't be able to leave." - His mother whispered close to his ear as she helped him remove the shirt that had stuck to the dried blood on his skin. Severus bit his broken lip slightly in denial as he tried to hold back the pain.

  
After what felt like an eternity they finally finished changing his clothes and with soft and slow steps they walked down the hall to the entrance, his mother asked him to wait while she went for his things and moments later he saw her carrying the suitcase with great effort to the door, he wanted to help her but he knew it would only worsen his condition and he needed all the energy possible.

  
He was taken out of his thoughts by his mother who looked at him with annoyance. "What do you expect to wear glamor? I will not risk going out if you don't have it. " - His mother whispered, and there he gave up the hope that she would put it for him, he knew that she almost never took out her wand but he hoped she would have made an exception due to his condition.

  
She saw his hurt gaze and sighed. "I'm really sorry honey but you know I can't do it, what would happen if your father found out? Besides, we would only waste time while I take out the wand, it's faster that way. I know I ask a lot but I don't want to lose you, you know what will happen if someone discovers it. "

  
Severus nodded and with some difficulty took a deep breath to consent his mind and his magic to reproduce the only spell that his mother had taught him to perfect to the degree of being able to do it without a wand, he whispered the incantation and soon felt the magic surrounding his body and more fatigue filling his body.

  
His mother looked at him approvingly and they both left the old house. With several pauses and at a slow pace, they managed to get to the point where he would meet Lily to be picked up.

His mother helped him sit on the park bench and gave him a small loaf of bread to eat. "It's the only thing I could take but I hope it helps you until you get there "- she kiss his forehead and put the suitcase next to him before getting up to leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Severus will be needing a new home to take care of him in a few chapters so I want your opinion on who would be better for it.
> 
> A) The Evans  
> B) The Price family  
> C) A wizard family (which would you prefer?)  
> D) A staff member (which would you prefer?)  
> E) Other (I accept suggestions)
> 
> Voting will go on for a few chapters. Thanks you!


	3. Chapter 3

"I love you mom" - whispered the black-haired boy before she left, she smiled at him and squeezed his hand gently. 

"I love you too son, I know things have been somewhat difficult but I promise you your father will be better soon, he is just going through a bad time but you'll see he will be better and we will be a family as it should be." - She said with a nervous smile.

Severus saw her eyes full of hope and could not tell her that his father had been with his "bad moment" for years and would not change, things only seemed to get worse but all he could do was nod with a sad smile and say goodbye to his mother expecting some day she faced the reality and he could help her getting away from his father.

He waited a short time after his mother left and saw the Evans vehicle approach. Again he took a deep breath trying to get enough strength to pretend that everything was fine in front of Lily and her parents. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like to have a family like hers that accepted their daughter and loved her no matter how different she was and even though she had to deal with her annoying sister it was nothing compared to what he had to endure.

The Evans were kind, a little strict but quite loving with their daughters, he had been able to see it the few times that he had allowed himself to be with them and he had to admit that he felt jealous, for that reason and to not disturb the family with his presence (although Lily assured him that he was not disturbing anyone) he avoided invitations whenever he could.

Mr. Evans got out of the vehicle to open the trunk and help him load his suitcase, he sincerely thanked him since he did not think he was capable of carrying it himself. "How have you been Severus? We haven't heard much from you these last few weeks." - Mr. Evans said as he got into the car. 

"I was a bit busy, I had to help my mother with some things around the house and I didn't have time to go out." - He answered with a soft tone that he only used in front of Lily and therefore her family. "You should have gone to see me at least for an hour anyway." - Lily claimed with a pout.

Severus smiled at his friend's childish attitude, forgetting for a moment all his troubles. He notice then that Petunia, Lily's sister, was not coming with them this time. He decided not to mention it so as not to make Lily sad. "I was bored without you and I missed you." - Lily said taking his hand.

"I missed you too, you don't know how much." - Severus whispered sharing the hold and smiling with genuine affection. "Lily don't be spoiled Severus was helping his family, you should try it, like picking up your room sometimes." - Mrs. Evans said smiling.

Lily pouted her face again "I do, I only forget to pick up my room sometimes." - Lily said. The rest of the way was fairly uneventful and soon the family arrived at the station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks you for your support! I really love all of you ideas and even though I may not be able to use them all here I will take them in account for other works. 
> 
> I will make here some clarifications that may help make the fic a bit more understandable.
> 
> 1\. Sev is starting his third year at Hogwarts. His relationship with the marauders therefore hasn't reached it's worse (mostly insults and some exchanged spells) so they can still work with their relationship.
> 
> 2\. Sev feels Lily more like a sister that still has a close relationship with him. She doesn't know how bad things are since he is forbidden to tell but she and her family have notice things.
> 
> 3\. Eileen is a bad mother and is obsessed with her husband. She will do anything to protect him.
> 
> I don't want to give to much spoilers so I will stop here for now. Thanks you again! And I hope to keep reading your suggestions and comments 💖


	4. Chapter 4

Arriving at the platform the family walked together while chatting amiably, Severus watched them and couldn't help feeling completely out of place. They were friendly and cheerful, joking around and hugging each other constantly, while he only nodded when addressed and somberly tried not to stumble on the way.

When they finally got to the train, Mr. Evans took the cart that had their suitcases to the train and then they both said goodbye to them. Mrs. Evans, smiling, gave him a soft hug, brief because since he was younger she had noticed how he was startled and got uncomfortable with physical contact, and Mr. Evans gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder, so soft that Severus nervously wondered if they knew anything about his injuries with the kindness with which they had treated him.

After they finished saying goodbye and Lily promised to write every week they finally boarded the train. The way to Hogwarts was quiet since they both locked themselves in a cabin where so they would not be disturbed, Severus had the opportunity to rest while they both chatted about the subjects they would take that year.

The arrival at the castle was a bit more chaotic and at times Severus doubted if he would make it, being pushed by other students, stumbling and hitting various surfaces and making a superhuman effort not to lose his concentration of the glamor that covered him.

He let out a relieved sigh when he finally stepped on the entrance to Hogwarts and began to assess whether it would be more convenient to skip the arrival banquet and go directly to his room to heal at least part of his wounds. In the following days he would be doing the potions necessary, but he would at least be able to move around without feeling dizzy and weak.

Just as he was about to leave the crowd of students walking through the corridors on their way to the large dining room he felt a hand stopping him. He looked to his right side and looked at Lily with a concerned expression. "Sev, are you feeling sick?" - Asked the redhead looking at how her friend unconsciously took his abdomen trying to lessen the pain.

"Y-Yes but don't worry, I'm mostly just tired." - The Slytherin replied, trying to hide the spasms of pain that ran through his body. "Do you want me to accompany you to the infirmary?" - She asked gently.

Severus shook his head slightly "Don't worry, I only need to rest, yesterday I was awake a bit late and I think it didn't sit well with me." - Lily looked at him with concern, not quite convinced to let him go like this. "Maybe you should eat something first."

Severus began to feel nervous, he did not have enough energy to continue there but he knew that Lily would not give in so easily, he bit his lip doubting his answer and when he finally decided to say that he would go to the infirmary on his own to try to make her go to the dining room a familiar voice was heard in the almost empty hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a slow beginning but things will get more interesting from here. Thanks for all your support and encouraging comments 💖 
> 
> Let me know what you think of the chapter ♥️ lots of love to everyone.


	5. Chapter 5

Sirius Black looked with disdain at the snake, he didn't understand how it was possible that a Gryffindor was his friend, much less someone like Evans who was the opposite of the dark boy. He shared a look with his best friend, the Gryffindor with glasses, who was equally annoyed by their closeness.

"Snivellus what a surprise, what is a snake like you doing here? Oh, I know, you sure are greasing the hallway! Evans you should stay away, you might slip." - The gray-eyed Gryffindor said sneering.

Lily glared at him and replied. "Really Black? I think your ego is more dangerous, it's so big that you could crush half the school with it. "

Peter and Remus had to hold their breath not to laugh at what the girl said. Even James had to bite his lip. The Black heir of course didn't take it well to be mocked and with a sour tone replied. "I don't understand why you defend that creepy snake Evans, before you know it he will throw you away like trash because you are not good enough for him."

Lilly's mouth twisted in anger but before she could answer Severus did. "Are you projecting yourself Black? Isn't that what your family did to you? Maybe that's why you're jealous, if you had became a Slytherin you wouldn't feel so inferior but I think that's just why you couldn't join, you don't have what it takes. And don't compare me to you and your crazy family, I'm not like you. Maybe you would do something like that, why else would you suggest it? But I won't."

Black's face turned as red as Lily's hair and before they could react he threw a strong expelliarmus at Severus that hit his body with force and sent him flying against the wall causing him to collide with it and fall painfully to the ground. Lily squealed and turned to Black with a furious glare before running to Severus.

Severus felt his body tremble and a sharp pain in his abdomen before blood spilled out of his mouth without warning. He started coughing with a metallic taste filling his mouth and blood flooded from his mouth. He felt his throat constrict and he began to gasp for air.

He shook his head, forcing himself to remain conscious, he couldn't let them see him, no one could find out, he needed to resist and get to his bedroom but his body no longer responded to him. He was trying to force himself to get up only that his trembling limbs wouldn't resist and keep making him fall to the ground. He tried to crawl ignoring Lily's horrified scream when she saw the blood that had come out of his mouth, but his mind was finding it harder and harder to concentrate and little by little he felt the darkness absorbing him.

He only managed to crawl a few inches before his body finally collapsed and his mind was lost in unconsciousness. As soon as his mind lost its concentration, the glamor quickly lost its effect, revealing the damage on the Slytherin's face and his red-stained shirt and little by little a pool of blood began to form under the black-haired boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know your thoughts on this chapter ♥️


	6. Chapter 6

Everything was in chaos after that, the students and teachers began leaving the large dining room pushing each other to see the reason for the terrified screams of the redhead who was now crying and trembling uncontrollably at the state of her best friend.

The marauders were not in better shape with their pale faces and terrified expressions, Sirius Black constantly repeated "It wasn't my intention, it's not possible, it can't be my fault." - The teachers soon made their way through the sea of students that were screaming, crying and whispering.

Upon seeing the scene, they took action. Albus along with Pomona and Madame Pomfrey escorted those involved to the infirmary, while taking Severus carefully levitated, Filius and Minerva were in charge of returning the other students to the dining room while Flich cleaned the hall.

Already in the infirmary, Madame Pomfrey quickly began her work performing diagnostic spells and acting on the worrying results, by her expression, those present could see it was not good. She began to give him potions one after another carefully and quickly while reciting healing spells at the same time. 

After a few minutes she closed the curtain around her patient and faded his clothes to begin to apply ointments and potions on his skin while she sutured open wounds and then bandage them. They were all shaking and silent. Lily kept looking to were severus was, tears running on her cheeks.

Dumbledore took a bottle of a calming potion and poured a few drops into a kettle that an elf brought and then made everyone drink it, including himself and Pomona. After a moment to let the potion take effect, he began to question them about what happened. 

Lily started screaming at the boys and trying to attack Sirius now that her fear had been replaced with anger. With a lot of effort Dumbledore and Pomona manage to keep her from punching him and got the story of what happened. The story matched but it made no sense why Severus had suddenly started to bleed, while the impact may have caused damage, it couldn't have made that amount of damage. 

He question the boys again to make sure there were no other spells involved, and even checked their wands, they were telling the truth. He looked at the children they all looked tired. The director sighed, apparently all that remained was to wait for Madame Pomfrey to have more information about what happened. 

He turned to the bed where Snape was staying and his expression turned concerned when he saw that she was still moving around the bed after just over 20 minutes. Not having an exact idea of what could have happened, he preferred to send the boys to their respective bedrooms, summoning them to his office the next day after breakfast to tell them their respective punishment.

Lily didn't want to leave her friend alone without knowing how he was and the only way to convince the redhead to go to her room was by promising to send an elf with news as soon as he got them. 

Pomona escorted them into the bedroom to make sure they didn't stray while Dumbledore waited for Madam Pomfrey. Finally after almost half an hour the nurse came out with her clothes stained with blood and a grim expression on her face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read on the comments an idea of Severus getting a familiar to help him and/or become animagus. 
> 
> What animals do you think would be best for Severus to have as familiar and to turn into? I'm excited to hear your ideas!
> 
> Thanks to ThePhoenixandTheDragon and PiffyEQ for the suggestion!


	7. Chapter 7

"How is he?" - Albus asked Madame Pomfrey who let out a great sigh before dropping heavily on one of the chairs. Dumbledore noticed how her hands were shaking slightly which was quite strange since she was someone quite controlled and calm, used to treating injured children.

"I am still debating whether to send him to St. Mungo's or keep him here." - she replied with a doubtful voice full of emotions. "How serious is his condition? " - Asked the director startled. She stayed silent for a moment trying to collect her thoughts so that she could explain the state of the Slytherin.

"He... could have died if he hadn't been taken care of soon. He has so many wounds that I don't even know where to start, I never thought I saw something like this in a school, much less hogwarts." - She made a brief pause to take a breath and stop herself from crying.

"It's barbaric, several of his bones had suffered recent breaks, he had various wounds throughout his body and more than one was infected. One of his broken ribs was millimeters away from piercing his lung and he has internal bleeding. Not to mention the malnutrition and severe dehydration. Also he lost a lot of blood." - Madame Pomfrey replied with deep sadness.

"How is it possible?" - Dumbledore asked in genuine horror. She looked at him to see actual worry on his eyes and answer him with contained anger. "I have some theories but I couldn't assure anything without proof, what I can tell you is that the damage was recent and it is not the first time that he has received it. I found old marks and scars on his skin under the new wounds and his bones are resented, definitely previously damaged and not properly healed."

She glanced at the unconscious boy on the bed and added. "This wasn't an accident, whoever hurt him did it with all the intention." - Both were silent, Dumbledore was pacing trying to assimilate the information but it was impossible to think about how someone could hurt a child so much.

He approached the child and felt his heart constricting by the sight of it, his face was swollen and a combination of purples and greens, his nose looked crooked, broken badly, his eyes were both bruised and his lip broken. He had a cut on his forehead stiched up, and purple marks around his neck, he didn't tried looking to the rest of his that was now covered on a bed sheet.

In the end Madame Pomfrey decided to ask a colleague from St. Mungo's for support to make sure that the boy could recover properly since she had not treated something so severe for many years and that colleague would also be able to help them corroborate or discard their suspicions. Of course Madame Pomfrey said her suspicions to Dumbledore before he left.

"I'm sure they were made by an adult and someone close since it seems that it happened during the summer and on more than one occasion. Possibly one or even both parents." - Dumbledore's eyes widened, he didn't want to believe that a parent was capable of hurting his own son in that way but everything seemed to indicate that it was possible, he couldn't say the idea hadn't crossed his mind.

They agreed not to notify his parents until they were sure how to proceed if they were actually responsible and Dumbledore would contact an Auror in the morning to investigate the case. Madame Pomfrey with the help of her colleague would be in charge of recording all the wounds for the investigation giving them as much information as possible. 

They would also talk to both Severus and his friend Lily Evans to get a better picture. Dumbledore didn't know how he was going to handle it with the other professors, they needed to know why their student wouldn't be in class but it was a very sensitive subject that needed to be treated carefully, making sure to give the right amount of information until they knew what happened. 

They both decided to start right away hopefully the sooner they started the sooner the child would get the help he needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think. 💖
> 
> Please keep making suggestions for severus familiar and animagus form


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think. Thanks you all for your comments 💖

The next morning was very busy, everyone wanted to know what had happened with the Slytherin and there were already various rumors running throughout the school. The teachers were concerned, and no one had seen the headmaster or Madame Pomfrey since the day before.

Lily was very nervous, she had received the message that Severus was stable but that didn't tell her anything and also she had been called to Dumbledore's office after lunch, she didn't know how she could concentrate in class and she had not been able to sleep well with the picture of her best friend injured in front of her.

She glared at the group of boys farther on the table, she wanted to hex them so badly, but the professors were there and she didn't want to get detention in case they let her visit her friend. She put the plate aside not really hungry and went to classes looking with anger one last time to the boys.

The marauders were unusually subsided, barely touching their food and not speaking to each other, none of them had been able to sleep last night and now they were worried for the upcoming visit to the headmaster office. People from other tables keep looking at them but they did their best to ignore them.

Severus for his part had a startling morning, earlier than day when he woke up he found himself face to face with the headmaster. His entire body still ached but he did notice it wasn't anything like the day before, still he felt tired and dizzy.

Dumbledore gave him a moment to take in where he was before starting to question him. Severus paled remembering what happened the day before and started getting mad at himself for his weakness, why did he had to faint? Now he was going to have a hard time with this. He had to keep calm he needed to get himself out of it. He tried to breath deeply and looked at the headmaster.

"You gave us a big scare yesterday. How are you feeling my boy? " - Severus flinched at the sudden but gentle voice but did his best to remain still, after a moment he replied mumbling "I feel fine "- he said looking away from where the headmaster was.

" I think you know why I am here, so I will ask directly. Who hurt you Severus? I need you to tell me so I can help you." - Dumbledore decided to be honest with the boy, he knew he was very smart and didn't think it was a good idea to drag the conversation too long or sugar-coating it. 

Severus bit his lip as he clutched the blanket in his hands. "I fell at home." - He responded to the headmaster doing his best to sound sincere keeping the nerves out of his voice and his body from trembling.

He knew he shouldn't tell the truth, no one could find out, he would lose everything, his mom who would hate him and he wouldn't see Lily again. Anyway it wasn't like they could do anything. His father was right to punish him it was his duty after all, at least that was what his mother always said. The only thing it would do is cause more trouble.

Dumbledore looked at him with concern and sadness "Severus, we both know that it isn't the true, the injuries you have were not caused by a simple fall." - He tried to face the child but Severus kept avoiding him. He sighed trying to convince him.

"Please let us help, if you fear the person who made it will do something I promise that we will protect you, if you tell me who it was I'll make sure they don't hurt you again." - The headmaster put his hand on his shoulder and tried to convey assurance but Severus just tensed and denied.

The Slytherin knew perfectly well that that was impossible, once when he was little he had told the truth and they had not believed him, because of him his father had hurt them, he specifically hadn't ended up well. And that day his mother had made sure to make him understand everything bad that would happen if he tried again. Besides, no teacher had ever cared about him, so why would they do anything to help?

" I'm very clumsy, it really was my fault, I fell a couple of times. " - The boy replied. After that the only thing Dumbledore got was a sharp silence from the minor. Letting out a disappointed sigh Albus decided to leave him for now, he would have to find another way to get the boy to talk and get him to trust them.


	9. Chapter 9

Dumbledore returned to his office with thousands of thoughts filling his mind, he could use legeremens with the boy to find out the truth but he wanted to leave that as a last resort, a stolen memory would be useless if the boy denied the truth, for the aurors it would be essential that the boy himself told the facts and that would be reinforced by the medical records. If he went to trial, a memory might be required but it had to come directly from the boy otherwise they could say it was tampered with.

The only option he could see right now with his limited time was to get Lily Evans to convince his friend. He wasn't sure if she knew the situation but if anyone could make the boy even consider talking it would be her, he always tough their relationship to be strong going against the houses rivalry.

He entered his office and an auror was already there waiting, he was a great friend of him, having him there would give them time to deal with the situation and he would be very helpful. He greeted Auror Moody and offered him a seat in front of him, given the confidence he had in him, he decided to tell him everything. The auror listened in silence to everything and in the end gave his opinion about it.

"I agree with the possibility of his parents being responsible, I have seen cases of domestic abuse before, few but there are and I can tell you that this case in my opinion is one of them. It is a pity that the boy doesn't want the help but it doesn't surprise me, victims of abuse are often threatened to prevent them from speaking. I could pay a visit to their house to observe them but that would put them on alert." The auror commented.

"I think it would be an option if my idea doesn't work. Can you be present while I talk to Ms. Evans? It is possible that she knows something or at least she could be able to make him start to doubt." Dumbledore commented taking a sip of tea.

"It seems like a good idea to me but you will have to scare her, you must make her truly understand the situation so she won't allow herself to be manipulated by him. Being so close should make him feel like he can confess her the truth but it wouldn't do any good if he convinces her to keep his secret." He had seen before so he knew what he was talking about. Dumbledore nodded.

"I believe that the situation itself is grave so I just need to choose the correct amount of information to make her see the imminent danger he could be at if he isn't helped." Dumbledore himself was very worried after the sight of the boy he had the day before, he really never thought he would be dealing with something like this and never imagined it would be from a Slytherin.

Seeing the state of the child made him see the boy beyond his house as a little child that needed help and perhaps didn't believe would get it. He was still thinking about how it had been possible for the boy to go all the way from home to Hogwarts without anyone noticing and he wondered how often the poor boy had been injured with no one to help.  
At that moment a knock sounded on the door of his office and four boys appeared before them, Dumbledore observed the group of Gryffindors, they were mischievous but deep down he knew they were good boys. Of course they didn't knew they were hurting an abused boy.

That didn't change the fact that he couldn't let them continue to bother the Slytherin, not after learning about his situation, he couldn't help but feel responsible for his well-being and therefore he had to make sure that at least Hogwarts was safe for him from now on.

He observed the boys were nervous and worried, the incident from the day before must have taken a deep effect on them, he could work with that. "Take a seat, please, I'll be brief." The man commented, and noticed the boys looking at the other adult present with curiosity but also a bit of reluctance. 

"Today Auror Moody accompanies me but don't worry he is here for a different matter than your punishments." The boys nodded not taking their eyes entirely from the man that seemed to be studying them as well. 

Dumbledore took a deep breath and explain with just the exact amount of information to not have any further questions the state of the Slytherin and the damage their reckless behavior could have caused. He made sure they understand the seriousness of the situation before explaining the punishments the four of them would be serving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for your comments 💖 
> 
> Let me know what you think


	10. Chapter 10

"I'm afraid I must take serious measures to ensure that this animosity between you and Mr. Snape ends. In addition to serving detention with Mr. Flich for three weeks you will help Mr. Snape to regularize his subjects once he can return to class. Like I mentioned before his health is very delicate and he will need the assistance. I will not hesitate to take actions if I hear any of you keep hurting your classmates, specially Mr Snape."

The boys didn't know how to respond, usually they would have complained and tried to make the Slytherin look bad to lessen their punishment but they simply couldn't erase from their memories the horrible image of the Slytherin covered in blood making them think for a moment that they had killed him with the attack. Sirius specifically was having a hard time trying not to think of what happened, everytime he closed his eyes the image of Snape coughing blood and then becoming unresponsive came to his mind. He had been the one to cast the spell after all.

Everything was so unreal and they didn't understand how they had gone from planning pranks for their school year to this? Remus was the first to speak after a prolonged silence from the usually noisy teens. "Where is Snape?" He asked. He actually felt bad for not stopping them before it had gotten that far having sensed something wrong with the boy, he knew he should have said something or at least try but he hadn't and it had ended terribly.

The headmaster noted the genuine interest and concern, after all Remus had always shown himself to be a kind boy. 'He is being taken care of and will heal with time for now that's all you need to know. Well I believe everything is settled and I will only need to ask you not to speak of this to anyone." The boys nodded and he finally dismissed them.

Classes went by until the lunch break came and with it the redhead's turn to visit the principal. The Gryffindor decided to go straight as she wasn't very hungry yet. Arriving she was greeted by the director and a strange man she didn't know. 

"Please come here Ms. Evans, take a seat and allow me to introduce Auror Alastor Moody, you will see Ms. Evans the reason why Auror Moody is with us is because of what happened with Mr. Snape. I'm afraid we are in a very serious situation."

Dumbledore gave her a moment to assimilate what was said but before she started with questions, the director continued with the explanation "Mr. Snape's condition is quite serious and the product of prolonged damage to his person, to be clearer we suspect that he suffered physical abuse from someone close to him. Do you know anything that could help us?"-Said Dumbledore with a gentle tone.

Lily's eyes began to fill with tears, memories flooded her and suspicions surfaced. She had always noticed strange things regarding her Sev, for example how he completely avoided talking about his family especially his father with whom he became quite nervous every time she tried to bring up the subject, she had also seen him walk strangely after he went missing for days and she had noticed how he shuddered and trembled at the proximity of other people.

"How badly injured is Sev?"- She ask fearfully. The headmaster looked at her and with honestly replied "If he had not been treated on time, Mr. Snape could have lost his life, his injuries are terrible and numerous, not to mention his general health isn't the best, thanks to the intervention of Madame Pomfrey we were able to avoid the worse but we were very close to losing him and I fear that if he doesn't receive the necessary help next time he won't have so much luck."

Lily gasped loudly she didn't knew things were so bad, how could she not notice? He was her best friend, he was like a brother and she had barely see anything wrong with him. She should have known, she should have helped him. Lily started sobbing, guilt filling her for her lack of attention. Moody pressed a hand on her shoulder and said in a gentle tone. "It isn't your fault I'm sure he is quite an expert on hiding his situation and no one expects a child to notice that kind of things we only need you to tell us what you know about him, it may help figuring out who is responsible. I'm afraid he won't tell us himself and we really need to help."

Lily looked up at the man in front of her and asked "Y-You talked to him? Is he awake?" Dumbledore nodded "I went check on him earlier but like auror Moody said it was sadly futile." Lily bit her lip she needed to see her friend, speak to him, do whatever it takes to make sure he gets help. She resolute herself she would make him tell the truth, she couldn't lose him and she wouldn't stay still when he needed her even if he didn't liked it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks you for the wait hope you like the chapter please let me know your thoughts on in 💖


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